new cycling paths

[Lambretta]

Theres a notice at work showing a new cycle path to be built along the main road.
this is great news as the main reason I don't commute is the factor of 6 miles mainly bad road on one route or this route of 8 mile is mainly cycle path but the main road near work is quite daunting.

Any useful paths near you being built ?
Or totally useless ones for that matter like the 10 foot long one near me

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I am not sure that car drivers really like going through chicanes made by cycle paths crossing roads, I see lots of frustrations, but they been traffic calming for decades narrowing the road before and after quaint villages...........................

I see they have finally finished my bridge over a road on a disused railway bed north of Bovey Tracy
A two hundred grand tarmacking over of a bridle path north of the A38 (Trago) was a short lived thing as I appear to be the only one using it as it looks just like It did when I first discovered it, covered with vegetation. Only the dog walkers are out if force , which I did not have when it was nine inches of mud The roadies who did use it are obviously fair weather riders................................

[gaz]

I know of plans for a few new urban paths in my neck of the woods but I don't know the timescales for implementation. A bit of a mixed bag, largely improving existing routes but by a little rather than a lot and even then only if pavement parking can be prevented.

One new rural route has been due to go ahead "this summer" for the past three years . I've learnt not to get too excited about it by now.

[NUKe]

Not near us but on the edge of Stowmarket in Suffolk as they have built up an old village, the Creeting's into effectively a Suburb of the town the cycle routes have been well thought out and planned to be usable.

It is very difficult to plan new cycle infrastructure through existing infrastructure which is why you end up with painted lines down the gutter that aren't wide enough cycles expected to share narrow pavements and the list goes on. But the work at creeting's is an excellent example of what can be done with a little thought on new build sites

[TrevA]

There was a report on Bbc Breakfast East Mids about a campaign to have riverside cyclepath between Derby and Matlock. I don't know if it will come to anything but it would be quite a useful route, avoiding the busy A6 and will also link up with the other riverside paths in Derby and could also link up with the High Peak Trail at Cromford.

[mrjemm]

You mean Creeting St Peter, NUKe? Or is St Mary, which is closer to Needham Mkt built up to as well now? As much as I am glad to have escaped Suffolk, it'd be sad to imagine a continuous (sub)urban sprawl from skIpswich to Bury (us all soon) St Edmunds.

[Ned Ludd]

Thats a proposed route on the Sustrans 2014 map Trev, and would be great. I really wouldn't want to cycle along the A6 for pleasure. Theres also a plan to complete the section between langley mill and Cromford on the Erewash canal, which would open up lots of destinations.....

[NUKe]

You mean Creeting St Peter, NUKe? Or is St Mary, which is closer to Needham Mkt built up to as well now? As much as I am glad to have escaped Suffolk, it'd be sad to imagine a continuous (sub)urban sprawl from skIpswich to Bury (us all soon) St Edmunds.

I am not sure but Your in the right area , its a massive development. Some nice houses. looking at the Map it is to the south of Creeting St Peter an in fill between Stowmarket and the A14. I the development has been labled the THe Creeting. Only ever pass through it on the odd Sunday ride. most of it has gone up over the last 4 years or so.

[Richard Fairhurst]

There was a report on Bbc Breakfast East Mids about a campaign to have riverside cyclepath between Derby and Matlock. I don't know if it will come to anything but it would be quite a useful route, avoiding the busy A6 and will also link up with the other riverside paths in Derby and could also link up with the High Peak Trail at Cromford.

That'll (mostly) be the Cromford Canal, I'd guess. It'll be a beautiful canal when it's restored, and offering a shared-use footpath/cycleway on the towpath is a good way for the restoration society to get funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (or similar). But it's a long-term project - certainly don't expect it within 10 years, and if it happens within 20 I'd be delighted.

[johnmac]

A couple of years ago, funding was announced for several new paths in the Peak District, due to open this year. Has this gone ahead? I can find no new information.

[jgurney]

My local council (Richmond-upon-Thames) came up with a plan for cycle paths alongside the local railway lines. It looked to me like an expensive way of getting points for doing a big project while keeping away from anything which might inconvenience any drivers. It also had the drawbacks that it would damage overgrown rail-side land currently visited only by occasional rail workers, which acts as valuable urban wildlife corridors, and would expose lots of gardens backing onto the lines to burglars gaining access from the new paths.

[jake369]

A27 between Lancing and Shoreham Airport, I've noted this is work in progress for a while. I have no problems doing the short trip along the dualed A27 as far as Shoreham to turn off to the side roads, but others I have been with do not like it. The alternative is twice the distance along the seafront and through the airport, not only the distance is annoying (when you are so near) but it's pretty flat and windy too. The only down side is you have to rejoin the road for the roundabout, even though there was room to keep the cycle path going into Lancing and avoid the roundabout all together (which out of the straight dual-carriageway is the only real 'danger' point)

[gaz]

My local council (Richmond-upon-Thames) came up with a plan for cycle paths alongside the local railway lines ... would expose lots of gardens backing onto the lines to burglars gaining access from the new paths.

There's a path not far from me that was created along the line of a former railway line. The residents of the housing backing on to it took to chucking their rubbish, mattresses, sofas, fridge freezers, etc over the fence onto the path.

It has the rare distinction of being a disused railway that Sustrans gave back.

[Flinders]

I just read on the local news that the Stafford-Newport(Shrops) path is now complete (Staffordshire stalled for years on their last few hundred yards but apparently it is now finally joined up with the bit Shropshire did at the Newport end).
Not ridden the new bit yet, will report when I do. I don't yet know how it crosses the A41, which could be an issue.

As for the rest of the route, between Derrington and Stafford it rides like ballast if you have (as I have) a stiff-framed narrow-tyred road bike, which is horrible on the hands. Might be okay on a mountain bike. The rest isn't too bad for a road bike, but does get puddles in places, as it isn't tarmac.
It's an old railway line, so is pretty flat, and all the old bit is completely off-road, except for one road crossing on a tiny minor road.

[Flinders]

My local council (Richmond-upon-Thames) came up with a plan for cycle paths alongside the local railway lines. It looked to me like an expensive way of getting points for doing a big project while keeping away from anything which might inconvenience any drivers. It also had the drawbacks that it would damage overgrown rail-side land currently visited only by occasional rail workers, which acts as valuable urban wildlife corridors, and would expose lots of gardens backing onto the lines to burglars gaining access from the new paths.

Then the residents need to put up decent fences. That's no excuse for not putting in a cycle track. If there was a well-used track it could actually be more secure, as there would be people about.

Railways are good places for tracks because:

they are flattish, so easy for the less athletic cyclist
they have bridges so crossing roads isn't an issue, especially for the less experienced and children
they generally go where people actually want to go.